Manchester United drew 0-0 for the second straight home game and fifth time at Old Trafford this season as West Ham United frustrated the Red Devils in Saturday's Premier League encounter.
West Ham could have easily been in front by half time after hitting the post twice in the opening 45 and they then hung on for a point in the closing stages as United again disappointed in front of their own fans.
Here, Sports Mole picks apart an entertaining stalemate that leaves the hosts fourth and the Hammers sixth in the table.
Match statistics
Man United
Shots: 21
On target: 1
Possession: 63%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 9
West Ham
Shots: 9
On target: 2
Possession: 37%
Corners: 2
Fouls: 13
Was the result fair?
If anyone deserved to win it was West Ham. The home side might have had over double the shots of their opponents, but to get only one on target was a miserable effort. West Ham created the better chances and they were unfortunate not to be leading at half time. The Red Devils had the odd spell of pressure here and there, but by and large it was another impressive away performance from West Ham, who on another day would have left with the points.
Man United's performance
More groans from the United faithful, who have seen four goalless draws and only three total goals in the last six games at Old Trafford. Like many of their recent displays, Louis van Gaal's men lacked ideas going forward and to test Adrian only once shows just how much they are struggling in attack at the moment. Anthony Martial, on the day he turned 20 and lost his teenage status, was largely quiet and the only player who really impressed was substitute Memphis Depay. It was a little surprising to see the Dutchman not in the starting lineup and he will surely be there for United's next game after making a real difference in the final 20 minutes.
Defensively it's a ninth clean sheet in 15 league games, but unlike many of their other shut-outs this term, they were far from convincing. They offered West Ham several excellent opportunities to score and the likes of Chris Smalling and Daley Blind were not at their stubborn best. Paddy McNair lasted just a half and his replacement, Guillermo Varela, looked a little out of place after being thrown in at the deep end for his first United appearance.
In United's last two matches Bastian Schweinsteiger has been key to their winning and equalising goals at Leicester and Watford respectively, but he can count himself a little lucky that he did not see red today after appearing to shove his forearm into the throat of Winston Reid in the first half.
West Ham's performance
Slaven Bilic's side beat Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City in their first three away games of the season, but it seemed that they had been worked out in their last two, losing to Watford and Tottenham Hotspur and shipping six goals in the process. They were back to their best today and were a couple of centimetres from scoring at least one goal in the first half. Mauro Zarate and Reid hit the woodwork and then the former squandered a brilliant chance in the second half after Andy Carroll's inch-perfect layoff.
With Dimitri Payet, Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia and Manuel Lanzini all missing, it was going to be a tough ask for Carroll on his own in attack and then the Hammers lost Victor Moses to injury in the first half. The service to Carroll was limited, but he did fairly well and it was Zarate who shone, even though he was guilty of missing that one chance.
Adrian only had one save to make, but what a stop it was as he flung himself at the feet of Marouane Fellaini to keep out the Belgian's effort from point-blank range after Martial's cutback. Although it's now no win in five for the Hammers, it was a much-improved display and supporters will be confident that the next win is not far away.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Winston Reid: The Hammers centre-back was awesome, especially in the first half when he didn't put a foot wrong. He made one key block to deny a goalbound Martial shot and then hit the post with a well-directed header that had De Gea rooted to the spot. The main reason West Ham kept United out.
Biggest gaffe
Michail Antonio's outside-of-the-boot cross found Carroll and he saw the run of Zarate to unlock United's defence. The ball sat up perfectly for the Argentinian to lash home, but he dragged wide when it looked easier to score.
Referee performance
It was a lenient display from Mark Clattenburg, who appeared to see the Schweinsteiger-Reid incident in the first half as he gave the German a talking-to. If he did see it, then the World Cup winner could have been sent off for clearly jabbing his forearm into Reid's neck. There were other tackles that could have warranted a yellow card and United could have had a penalty in the first half when Fellaini fell in the box.
What next?
Man United: It's a huge night on Tuesday for Van Gaal's side as they go to Wolfsburg in the Champions League knowing that they have to beat the German side, currently top of Group B, to guarantee qualification for the last 16. Any slip-up will hand PSV the chance to go above them and put United in the Europa League. In the league, a trip to Bournemouth on Saturday night is next.
West Ham: It does not really get any easier for the Hammers as they next host Stoke City a week today - the Potters will go to Upton Park having beaten Man City today.
Pascal Lemesre
